Interrupting Actions?

[Doug Taylor]

Many games allow a character who wins Initiative the ability to interrupt the other side. I wonder if this couldn't be applied to Starship Combat:

Has anyone ever done anything like allowing one ship's Captain to interrupt the actions of another? I was thinking that if Captain A beats Captain B in initiative by an Extraordinary success, that perhaps he could allow Captain B to go first, then after Captain B's ship has taken a single action, Captain A could interrupt and take the next one. Anyone ever experiment around with doing something like this?

It makes a lot of sense, and one of the (admittedly minor) things I'm not crazy about in CODA is the change of one player to have four (or six) actions in a row. It might even make realistic sense (as one side in a combat gets momentum), but game balance wise it can be devastating.

So has anybody ever played around with something like this, for ground combat or in space?

[Fugazi Grrl]

Ground Combat - Perception attribute test, TN 10, or Savvy reaction, same TN. Success means the character has accurately guestimated their opponent's next move and can "usurp" their initiative.

Space Combat can be handled one of two ways. If the CO, or officer in command has the Professional Ability, Anticipate Opposition, as described in the Starfleet Operations Manual (p. 35), giving a Starship Commander access to the abilities from a Diplomat with the same Pro. Ability (PG, p. 54), use this to give the Captain a chance to guess what his opposing commander will do next. Success allows the CO to usurp the initiative.

Another way to do it, and maybe simpler, would be a Tactics (Space), or Tactics (appropriate enemy) test with a TN 15. ie. if a ship is facing a Romulan Warbird Tactics (Romulans) would apply. Success would allow the Captain to usurp the initiative in that case.

[Doug Taylor]

Ground Combat - Perception attribute test, TN 10, or Savvy reaction, same TN. Success means the character has accurately guestimated their opponent's next move and can "usurp" their initiative.

Space Combat can be handled one of two ways. If the CO, or officer in command has the Professional Ability, Anticipate Opposition, as described in the Starfleet Operations Manual (p. 35), giving a Starship Commander access to the abilities from a Diplomat with the same Pro. Ability (PG, p. 54), use this to give the Captain a chance to guess what his opposing commander will do next. Success allows the CO to usurp the initiative.

Another way to do it, and maybe simpler, would be a Tactics (Space), or Tactics (appropriate enemy) test with a TN 15. ie. if a ship is facing a Romulan Warbird Tactics (Romulans) would apply. Success would allow the Captain to usurp the initiative in that case.

Great stuff, FG! I know our Captain has Ground Combat, but I didn't remember (or didn't know) that about Space Combat.

Both perfect solutions - thanks again!

[Fugazi Grrl]

You're welcome. And thank you. I love trying to help because it gives me a lot of confidence in my experience with the CODA rules. The best Star Trek system, in my opinion.